Tuesday 10th September
Midland Football Premier League Division
Brocton 4 Whitchurch Alport 2
Brocton made two changes from Saturday’s heartbreaking defeat against Uttoxeter Town which saw Charlie Marshall and Ben Haddaway return to the team in place of Cooper Marsh and Lucas Green-Birch. Whitchurch had started the season well and were fully anticipated to offer a stern challenge for the home side.
The visitors came out of the block quickly, creating some dangerous chances early on; a cross field pass from Craig Pritchard to Lewis Bloor, who found himself in heaps of space down the left but dragged his shot wide of the post. This would be a recurring theme in the initial stages, with Bloor turning Marshall inside out, this time cutting inside and getting his shot on target, but it was saved comfortably by Tony Allsopp. Whitchurch continued their early domination; goalkeeper Jack Sheward’s fantastic distribution to both wingers continued to give Brocton a headache, and an early goal would come in the form of a close range finish from striker Callum Knowles, who tapped away Harry Bower’s cross from the right-hand side to give the visitors the lead in the sixteenth minute. It began to look as if this would be a long evening for Brocton, as Whitchurch were looking extremely comfortable, but finally Brocton would begin to create a couple of opportunities in the form of long range efforts from captain Connor Haddaway; a particularly good chance came when Brocton finally got the ball down on the deck and knocked it about brilliantly between themselves, ending in the captain’s shot rising just too high over the bar. Brocton’s best chance up until that point came in the thirty-second minute when more great play from the home side found Connor Haddaway once again, this time one on one with the opposition goalkeeper, but he delayed his shot and went low, forcing a fantastic stop from Sheward with his feet. Toward the end of the first half, the tide really began to change, as Brocton began to show similar dominance that the visitors showed early on, and this would be topped off with an equalizer just before half time from Reg Smith. Finding himself running through on goal, Smith knocked it around the on-rushing Sheward and tapped it into an open net to level the score at 1-1 just before the break.
HT: Brocton 1 Whitchurch Alport 1
An early chance for the visitors straight after half time almost put them back into the lead, as Bower’s cross to the back post just evaded Knowles, but Brocton would go on to continue similarly to how they ended the first half. Brocton continued to have a go from long range, this time from Will Whieldon after Charlie King found Smith on the left wing, his cross fell to the captain who chested it down for the shot, forcing an uneasy save from Sheward. Almost straight away, Brocton forced another opportunity this time it was Connor Haddaway again, but his shot was blocked low and hard by the Alport defender just inside the box – the home side would continue to create opportunities, but some great defensive work from Whitchurch kept the score level. The ball fell to Connor Haddaway once again after some ping-ponging around the edge of the box, forcing a block and a Brocton corner; but it would be the other Haddaway brother to put it into the back of the net, Ben rising the highest at the back post from the resulting corner and heading Brocton into a 2-1 lead after sixty-four minutes. Whitchurch would respond immediately, two minutes later going up the other end with Bower’s cross bouncing around the Brocton penalty area, eventually Connor Haddaway slid in and it was Pritchard to go down and the referee blew his whistle and pointed to the spot; Bower stepped up and slotted his spot kick away, sending Allsopp the opposite way and equalizing the score at 2-2. As the game fell into it’s final fifteen minutes, it looked as if it could go either way, both sides creating opportunities but Brocton continued to knock the ball about well with great one-touch football in buildup. Closing in on the eightieth minute, Christian Blanchette cut inside off the left wing and was seemingly brought down inside the box, but the referee waved play on, while both sides seemed to appeal, substitute Lucas Green-Birch was still alive to it and fired it away to give Brocton a 3-2 lead. The home side didn’t want to get ahead of themselves though, especially with the circumstances of Saturday’s defeat still fresh on the mind, Whitchurch wouldn’t go down without a fight and continued to cause problems, especially Bower, who had been a problem for both full backs throughout the match. A ball misjudged by Josh Simcox down the right wing allowed Bower to have a run at goal, but Tom Vaughan came to the rescue as he was able to get infront of Bower and clear the ball away. Jack Sheward had been fantastic with his distribution all night long, as he looked up field for an outlet to try and get the visitors another equalizer, he was chased down by Green-Birch, who slid in and blocked the attempted clearance to put the game to bed at 4-2. It wouldn’t be long before the full time whistle blew on a much-needed win for Brocton after two loses on the bounce; getting back to winning ways and ruining the oppositions 100% away record this season will surely go down as a successful evening for the Badgers.
Brocton are back in action this Saturday away at Tividale.
FT: Brocton 4-2 Whitchurch Alport; Attendance: 142
Brocton: Tony Allsopp, Charlie Marshall, Josh Simcox, Kenny Devoir, Tom Vaughan, Charlie King, Will Whieldon, Ben Haddaway, Reg Smith, Connor Haddaway, Christian Blanchette
Subs (Used): Ben Hackett, Lucas Green-Birch, Alex Curtis, Seb Conaghan
(Un-used): Marsh
Whitchurch; Jack Sheward, George Carpenter (Josh Beamond 85) Billy West, Ellis Turner, Freddie Bishton, Cameron Dourish, Harry Bower, Craig Pritchard (Harry Farnsworth 90), Callum Knowles, Adam Hailes (Jack Loughran 72), Lewis Bloor (Ollie Holden 72). Sub (Un-used): Lewis Brown
Yellow Cards: Bower (Whitchurch)
Report by Zak Whitton
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